HTML and CSS Reference
In-Depth Information
Similarly, applications are available for creating other kinds of sites, too. If you want to
create a social site for a group, you can use applications like Ning
(http://ning.com)
or
Drupal Gardens (
http://www.drupalgardens.com/
). You can create a free wiki-type site
(like Wikipedia) at wikidot
(http://www.wikidot.com/)
or PBworks (
http://pbworks.com/).
Generally with these types of applications, all you need to do to start is fill out a form,
choose a URL, and pick a theme for your website. Then you can enter your content by
way of forms, enabling you to avoid writing the HTML for the pages. Some of them
even include WYSIWYG editors so that you can format the content you enter without
using HTML.
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However, that doesn't mean that you don't need to learn anything about HTML or
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
. Even if you're not creating the pages by hand, you'll still
need to understand how pages are structured when you start entering content or modify-
ing themes. If you don't understand how Web pages are built, you won't know how to
track down and fix problems with the markup on your website, whether you're responsi-
ble for writing it.
For most people taking their first steps into web publishing, using an application to get
started is often the best approach, because it enables you to start putting the content
you're interested in on the Web immediately without figuring out too many things for
yourself. However, often people run into limitations in these applications that leave them
wanting to take more control of their websites and go further on their own. This topic
can help you do so.
Setting Up Your Own Web Hosting
If you do want to create and upload your own web pages, you need to choose a company
that can provide you with the space you need. There are a huge number of hosting com-
panies who provide web space to people who want to launch their own websites.
Companies like DreamHost (
http://dreamhost.com/)
and Pair.com
(http://pair.com)
have
been in the hosting business for many years and offer a variety of affordable hosting
plans, but there are plenty of other options, too. Many people subscribe to hosting plans
from the company that they use to register the domain names for their websites, or go
with hosting companies that are in their local area.
If you choose to go this route, the steps for going from setting up a hosting account to
making your pages available on the Web are as follows:
